Summary—the most significant
political event in the past year has been Duterte’s “sweep” of the 2019 senatorial
election. It reveals that however enthusiastically the Philippine electorate may
have professed their love of democracy, it is only too evident that a
substantial segment poorly understands it, having opted to support through
their vote a president aspiring to be a dictator. We observe that Duterte
continues to make substantial progress in his dictatorial drive, principally by
degrading the rule of law, according to three broad strategies that have proven
to be effective—weaponizing the rule of law, threatening the lives of the
legitimate political opposition, and abusing power. Combined with massive
corruption, the erosion of the rule of law in our country amounts to seriously
bad governance with inevitably negative and potentially catastrophic economic
effects, especially when we factor in Duterte’s benighted decision to co-opt
Communist China debt-trap diplomacy.
STATE OF THE NATION, JULY 22, 2019
At
this point in time, the most significant development during the preceding year
has been Duterte’s “sweep” of the 2019 senatorial election. None of the
opposition candidates won a seat, and the minority bloc in the Senate was
reduced by two because of the end of Senator Antonio Trillanes’ term and the
loss of Senator Bam Aquino’s reelection bid. Only three senators who are not
allied with the administration coalition won—Grace Poe, Lito Lapid, and Nancy
Binay—and they are members of the Senate supermajority.
The
electoral outcome is highly significant for two reasons. First, it bolsters
Duterte’s legislative agenda, including Charter Change, against which opposition
in the Senate has been the principal obstacle. Second, the electoral result
shows that despite the dictatorial aspirations of Duterte, he remains popular
among the Philippine electorate.
The
vote in support of a president who has explicitly and loudly expressed his desire
to advance dictatorial rule contradicts survey results that show the Philippine
electorate enthusiastically endorses democracy.
As
a result, columnist Randy David has trenchantly observed:
“Strangely
enough, nearly every survey that has sought to measure our people’s belief in
democracy has only yielded results that place us among the top in the world.
“There’s
probably only one explanation for this: We have not understood the meaning of
democracy, especially what it demands of the governed. Many equate it with the
simple act of voting, oblivious of the importance of subjecting the choices we
make to rational criteria that transcend emotional attachments and short-term
personal needs.
“We
profess a firm commitment to democracy, yet we uncritically accept the claims
of those who make decisions in our name. We prefer strongmen, who imperiously
go ahead and do what they think they must do, over leaders who take time to
study and consult with those who may know better.”
See
“EDSA—Come and Gone”:
See
also, “The Corruption of the Philippine Electorate”:
Notably,
the conduct of the 2019 senatorial election bodes ill for the upcoming 2022 presidential
election because it reveals a window of opportunity for the administration to
commit massive electronic cheating. See “Java Error”:
During
the past year, Duterte, as in the first two years of his term, has made substantial
progress in his drive to accumulate dictatorial power.
Duterte’s
dictatorial drive has given rise to various moves to advance his authoritarian
agenda.
See
“How to Evade Accountability for Your Crimes When You Step Down As Philippines
President”:
The
most effective means so far by which Duterte has successfully prosecuted his
authoritarian plan is by eroding the rule of law.
See
“What Is the Rule of Law”?
See
also, “Weakening the Rule of Law in the Philippines”:
Duterte’s
strategy to weaken rule of law falls under three broad categories.
First,
weaponize the law against the political
opposition, which is accomplished in several ways, among them:
-
Politicizing the judiciary
-
Misinterpreting the law in contradiction to its plain meaning and obvious
intent for suspect or nefarious political purposes
-
Violating the equal protection of the laws clause of the Philippine
constitutional Bill of Rights
See,
for example, “Kangaroo Court, Misrule of Law”:
The
judicial decision co-opts the administration agenda, affirming a state of
affairs of which we have been aware for some time, that is, judicial
independence, whatever of it that exists, is compromised when it is intimidated
by a hostile, aggressive executive.
See
also, “Dictatorial Duterte and the Misrule of Law”:
Placing
his own appointees not only in high-level executive positions but also in the
judiciary and the Constitutional Commissions is an integral element of Duterte’s
plan to strengthen his authoritarian sway. See “Duterte ‘Bukbok’ Governance”:
A
second attack strategy of Duterte is to threaten
the lives of the legitimate political opposition. Only too apparent, the correlation
of verbal threats by Duterte with the killings of persons and groups who have
been targeted, both instances proximate in time, points to linkage.
Specific
aspects of this strategy include:
-
Extrajudicial killing
-
Political assassination
-
Drawing up unfounded, arbitrary, and politically motivated state manufactured
blacklists
-
Red-tagging, which is a type of state manufactured blacklist
See
“The Killing Fields of the Philippines”:
The
following posts illustrate both strategies, namely, weaponizing the law and threatening
the lives of the legitimate political opposition.
“Advancing
Duterte’s Fascist Agenda in the Philippines”:
“Progressive
Fascism under Duterte”:
“Duterte’s
Authoritarian Toolbox”:
Threatening
the lives of the legitimate political opposition is a strategy that has been facilitated
by the worsening climate of impunity. See “The Philippines—World Capital of
Impunity”:
Combining
the worsening rule of law with the historically fascist strategy of promoting
physical violence against the legitimate political opposition, together with massive
corruption, including on the part of the president, the result is seriously bad
governance.
Bad
governance to the degree and extent that we have witnessed under Duterte inevitably
engenders negative economic effects, potentially catastrophic.
“Bad
Governance, Massive Corruption”:
“Good
Governance Is Hard to Find”:
“Bad
Governance under Duterte: Massive Corruption, Gross Fiscal and Economic
Mismanagement”:
“Bad
Governance under Duterte: Massive Corruption, Gross Fiscal and Economic
Mismanagement” (continued):
“Massive
Corruption and Bad Governance under Duterte”:
Our
economic condition is gravely imperiled by Duterte’s decision to co-opt
Communist China’s debt-trap diplomacy. Needlessly, our precious natural
resources have been put at risk of forfeiture to Communist China upon default
on our loan payments.
“President
Dumbo”:
“NO
to Debt Colonialism of Communist China”:
A
third Duterte strategy is to simply to abuse
power by exercising it within the apparent bounds of the law but for some
demonstrably nefarious purpose.
“Abuse”
means to “use (something) to bad effect or for a bad purpose; misuse.” See:
One
obvious example of Duterte’s abuse of power is when he broadcast in April an entirely
unsubstantiated and glaringly incorrect “Oust Duterte matrix,” which at the
time under the threatening conditions of extrajudicial killings and political
assassinations placed the lives of those who had been capriciously accused in
mortal danger, for example:
“Winnie
Monsod, one of the names mentioned, was identified as a Rappler journalist. She
is not; she is a columnist in this paper.” [The paper is the Philippine Daily
Inquirer.]
See
“Malacañang’s ‘Matrix’”:
Public domain photo
ReplyDeletePhoto link:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duterte_delivers_his_message_to_the_Filipino_community_in_Vietnam_during_a_meeting_held_at_the_Intercontinental_Hotel_on_September_28.jpg
Gonzalinho
DON’T BLAME FILIPINOS FOR INCREASINGLY POWERFUL DUTERTE, BLAME THEIR POLITICAL SYSTEM By Bianca Ysabelle Franco
ReplyDeleteThe Globe Post, June 4, 2019
It is sensible for Filipinos to believe in their president who champions their rights and desires. The approval for Duterte is due to his ability to project the people’s aspirations, not because they have been deceived to do so. More importantly, Duterte legitimizes the people’s frustrations against a political establishment that has long disparaged them.
It is not the people who are to blame for an increasingly powerful Duterte, but the political system that has failed them time and again. This time, this political system created a man who ruined democracy for the people who elected him.
See: https://theglobepost.com/2019/06/04/philippines-duterte-popularity/
The great irony is that the system, democracy, albeit weak, has not failed the masses. It has brought about major economic advancement for the country, although the benefits have been felt mainly by the elite. This inequity has to be addressed by enlightened social spending. Tragically, the electorate is largely ignorant of our economic rehabilitation—slow, painful—since the catastrophic Marcos dictatorship—and wants to recapitulate historical folly under another maniacal dictator. The expression for this thickness is, “shoot oneself in the foot.”
Gonzalinho
DUTERTE’S BEST AND WORST
ReplyDeleteTony La Viña
July 21, 2019
…The worst of Duterte
Much has been said about the controversial war on drugs, the centerpiece campaign of the Duterte administration. Needless to say, eradication of drugs is of utmost importance. And for this, the President must be commended. We are all too familiar with the deleterious effects of illegal drugs to the victims and to their families. Yet, the prosecution of this “war” is causing havoc on human rights. The human rights record is in such a dismal state because of this war on drugs such that international bodies like the Amnesty International, the European Union, and lately the UNHRC have come to condemn it. As a member of the civilized community of nations, we are duty bound to respect civil liberties, protect human rights and obey international law. The government cannot allow itself to become a rogue regime that defies world opinion and routinely violate international law and norms with impunity.
Duterte’s record on responding to China’s aggression is not good. Here is a “friend,” according to the Duterte administration, who is forcibly taking our territories that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and The Hague Arbitral Award belong to us.
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll indicate that an overwhelming number of Filipinos, 93%, want the Philippine government to assert its territorial rights over the West Philippine Sea. The government exists not only to uplift the quality of life but also to protect the territorial integrity of the country. In asserting our sovereignty and sovereign rights, war is not the only option on the table. There is a wide array of peaceful and diplomatic means to forcefully say to China what is ours is ours! Pandering to the desires of the aggressor is to lose by default these claimed territories that can seriously compromise the independence and food security of the present and future generations of Filipinos.
And then, finally, there is the record of President Duterte in suppressing dissent and not tolerating criticism. The continuing detention of Senator Leila de Lima, the unrelenting weaponizing of law against Rappler, and just this week the sedition charges filed against Vice President Leni Robredo, some bishops, and other opposition figures are examples of this lack of respect for democratic principles that has characterize this government. What is worrisome is that there are signs that this dictatorial approach to governance will be institutionalized and made permanent through charter change. – Rappler.com
See: https://rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/duterte-best-worst-sona-2019-philippines
“The most significant political event in the past year has been Duterte’s ‘sweep’ of the 2019 senatorial election. It reveals that however enthusiastically the Philippine electorate may have professed their love of democracy, it is only too evident that a substantial segment poorly understands it, having opted to support through their vote a president aspiring to be a dictator. We observe that Duterte continues to make substantial progress in his dictatorial drive, principally by degrading the rule of law, according to three broad strategies that have proven to be effective—weaponizing the rule of law, threatening the lives of the legitimate political opposition, and abusing power. Combined with massive corruption, the erosion of the rule of law in our country amounts to seriously bad governance with inevitably negative and potentially catastrophic economic effects, especially when we factor in Duterte’s benighted decision to co-opt Communist China debt-trap diplomacy.”
Gonzalinho
Philippine presidential election is coming up in 2022. Democracy forces must mobilize now against anti-democracy forces, building trust among the electorate, especially among the lower socioeconomic classes, by implementing active and effective mechanisms for listening and dialogue. Once in power, democracy forces must foster democratic values and attitudes among the populace by institutionalizing formal education courses.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho